“Check against delivery” Bundespräsident Steinmeier, Ministerpräsident Söder, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Like so many of you, I have been coming here for many years. From the times when it was an exclusively transatlantic audience to today, when we see political, business and thought leaders from right across the world. This is a testament not only to the great success of the Munich Security Conference. But it also reflects on how the rest of the world impacts our security and our transatlantic relationship. Our task here...

Read more

To G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, The outlook for the global economy is characterised by shifting financial conditions and geopolitical uncertainty. Against this backdrop, it is important that we remain attentive to global financial stability, which is indispensable for economic growth. Under the G20’s leadership, and working through our members, the FSB has developed extensive reforms in recent years to enhance resilience by addressing key financial system vulnerabilities. When fully implemented, the reforms will contribute to a financial...

Read more

Blog post by Thomas Cantens, Herve Tourpe | New generative AI tools can redefine the relationship between governments and citizens, but strong leadership and safeguards are fundamental. New technologies have the potential to improve the relationship between governments and citizens. Tax portals, customs IT systems and online services have simplified interactions with public authorities, reduced bureaucratic hurdles, and increased transparency. Now, generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is emerging as the next transformative force. Known for its ability to understand and produce human...

Read more

by Dennis Essers, Laura Lebastard, Michele Mancini, Ludovic Panon and Jacopo Timini | Using firm-level data for five EU Member States we study how disruptions to the supply of foreign critical inputs (FCIs) might affect value added. Our findings suggest a 50% reduction in imports of FCIs from China and China-aligned countries would lead to transitory value added losses in manufacturing of about 2-3%, with significant variation across firms, sectors, regions and countries. This has implications for the wider economy, growth and price stability. Global disruptions...

Read more

Blog post by Pedro Baptista, Colm Bates, António Dias da Silva, Maarten Dossche and Marco Weissler | Euro area firms hold on to their workforce, despite poor economic conditions. For a significant share of workers this means a lower workload than usual. In turn, many put more money aside as they worry about job security and wages, as the ECB Blog shows. When the economy slows down, so does labour productivity. This link is often attributed to the role of...

Read more

India, Mexico, Brazil, and some other major emerging economies recorded strong growth, while the United States continued to extend its lead as the top destination for direct investment Global foreign direct investment grew again in 2023 after declining the previous year. Inward direct investment climbed $1.75 trillion, or 4.4 percent, reaching a record $41 trillion, according to the IMF’s latest Coordinated Direct Investment Survey, which provides detailed information on direct investment positions between countries. FDI rose in most regions, with Central and...

Read more

The LRS Taskforce in its new composition will continue to provide a forum for engagement between public- and private-sector experts to support the G20 Roadmap for enhancing cross-border payments. The Financial Stability Board has renewed the composition of its Taskforce on Legal, Regulatory, and Supervisory matters (LRS Taskforce). The Taskforce aims to strengthen collaboration between the public sector and senior managers from the private sector to support the G20 Roadmap for enhancing cross-border payments. Following a public call for nominations for senior private-sector...

Read more

Speech by Piero Cipollone, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, at an MNI Connect webcast Today I would like to discuss the ECB’s balance sheet and its implications for our monetary policy. In recent years, the monetary policy debate has mainly focused on our interest rate decisions. This is for good reason. In response to the biggest inflation shock in a generation, we embarked on the fastest tightening of monetary policy in the ECB’s history through rate hikes. During this...

Read more

Banking systems are largely insulated from inflation, but vulnerabilities at some banks could lead to tradeoffs between containing inflation and protecting financial stability Before the pandemic, investors worried about how persistently low inflation and interest rates would crimp bank profits. Paradoxically, they also worried about bank profitability when post-COVID reopening sent inflation and central bank interest rates soaring. The failure of Silicon Valley Bank and other US lenders in early 2023 appeared to validate these fears. Our new research on the relationship...

Read more